cassettes?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on January 15, 2011 at 7:44am

Ultegra or a high end offering from SRAM.

 

That said, a cassette is about the worst place to save weight. The weight reduction is minor and  it comes at the cost of durability. I buy  105 level cassettes and try and have three since I usually have a training wheel and then two sets of wheels for each bike. That gets pricey really fast if you have two hundred dollar cassettes.

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Permalink Reply by John Quy on January 15, 2011 at 2:31pm

Weight is not my primary concern but I like to add it to the info. in making decisions.  The drivetrain is Sram XO but I am not married to any one system.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on January 15, 2011 at 4:25pm

You said lightest and most durable. For almost all cassettes those are opposing forces given the lighter weight comes from less durable material.

 

I have no personal experience but the XX cassettes seem like they would be light and durable. But durability is largely a component of how well you maintain your chain. Even if you had a cassette that would never ever wear out ever the chain would begin to skip at some point. Best to just replace chains often [twice a 'cross season for me].

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Permalink Reply by John Quy on January 16, 2011 at 7:11am

I just put on a KMC SL ti nitride chain.  Never used one but thought I'd give one try.  I hose the bike after rides and generally keep the drivetrain pretty clean.

Always  fighting the durability vs. weight contradiction. 

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Permalink Reply by Sean Riley on January 21, 2011 at 10:20pm

Sram Red

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Permalink Reply by David whitlock on July 7, 2011 at 8:44am

I'll second the SRAM Red, but be careful since they don't fit on all free-hub bodies and some wheels (Easton) require a special free-hub to accommodate the power dome cassette's hollow design (the cassette only touches the free-hub in two places). I just bought an 11-28 used/new takeoff for cheap and put it on my CX race/road wheels. I must say that it's light, but noisy on the shifts since it hollow - not a deal breaker. Most of the cassette is machined out of one piece of chromoly steel and I can only assume that it will be more durable than Ti or Al cassettes of the same weight. If you have money to burn or find one on C's-List cheap I say go for it, if not look into the SRAM 1070.

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Permalink Reply by Michael brazel on July 7, 2011 at 3:33pm

General rule of thumb, pick 2

• Light
• Affordable
• Durable

Light + Durable = Not affordable

Affordable + Duarable = Not light

Light + Affordable = Not Durable

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